


In the Dim Light of the Living Room

by lionessvalenti



Category: Grimm (TV)
Genre: Community: love_bingo, Episode Tag, Episode: s01e08 Game Ogre, F/M, Stolen Kisses, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-06
Updated: 2012-03-06
Packaged: 2017-11-01 13:11:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/357172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionessvalenti/pseuds/lionessvalenti
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After seeing Nick in the hospital, Hank goes to check up on Juliette.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Dim Light of the Living Room

Hank stood awkwardly on the porch, his hands shoved deep in his jacket pockets. He knocked on a lot of doors in his line of work, but without a partner to chat to while they waited for someone to answer, he never knew what to do.

The door opened and Juliette stood there, still dressed, despite the late hour. She smiled, surprised. "Hank, hi. Come on in. I thought Nick said you were on lock down until the case was closed."

"The case is closed now," Hank replied, walking into the house. He looked around the room, and it was like he'd never been there before. "Whoa."

There were empty spaces where furniture used to be. Bits of glass were scattered across the floor, like someone had tried to clean it up, but not especially well. There were several places where the drywall had been broken, and two windows had been hastily boarded up.

"I think I'm going to be cleaning broken glass off the floor for weeks," Juliette replied with a little laugh. She had the sound of someone trying to make a weak joke so they wouldn't burst into tears. She turned away from the room, toward Hank and asked, "You said the case is closed? You caught him?"

"He's dead," Hank said. "I thought you'd like to know. It might help you sleep better knowing he's not out there anymore."

"It will, thanks." She smiled. "Did you send the officers outside home? If he's dead, there's no reason for them to be there. I'd hate to take them away from their families for no reason."

He smiled, too. If he'd ever found someone as caring and thoughtful as Juliette, he'd never had been married so many times. He would have stayed with her forever and never let her go. "Yeah, I did. I guess I should go, too."

She tilted her head and studying the wound on his forehead. "Did you have that looked at?"

"It's just a scratch," he said. "I was at the hospital seeing Nick before I came here. If no one there gave me a hard time about it, I think it's all right."

Juliette chuckled. "Okay, fine. At least let me make you a cup of tea."

Hank held up a hand. "It's okay."

"I insist. Even if Stark is dead, I'm too wired to sleep. I'd like the company for a while."

He didn't really like tea -- he was a coffee guy through and through -- but he couldn't refuse the offer. "I'd love some tea," he said with a smile.

"Good." She motioned to the couch. "There's still a sofa to sit on. It'll just take a minute."

While Juliette went into the kitchen, Hank pulled off his jacket and sat down on the couch. He looked around the room, taking in a closer eye at the damage. The room was dim with the absence of a couple lamps, and on the glass side table, which had been miraculously untouched, he found a stack of loose photographs, the frames certainly in the trash now.

He picked up the pictures and went flipped through them. There were a couple of people he didn't recognize -- family, probably -- and several of Nick and Juliette together. Snapshots of them on vacation with their arms wrapped around each other and grinning into the camera.

Juliette walked into the living room, a mug in each hand. "I hope you don't mind chamomile. I don't need the caffeine this late. Do you like the pictures?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry." Hank set the photos back where he'd found them and took a mug from Juliette's outstretched hand. "Thanks."

"That's what they're there for," she replied, sitting down next to him. "Though they're usually in frames."

"I figured." He took a sip of the tea, and it actually wasn't bad, sweetened with honey. She was so close he could smell her lightly floral perfume. "You know, I sent the uniforms home, but if you want the company, I can crash here on the couch. You don't have to be alone tonight."

She smiled, wrapping both hands around her mug. "I think everything in the house has been crashed enough for one night. I'll be fine. It's not like I'm going to sleep anytime soon, what with the boarded up windows and Nick in the hospital. My mind keeps racing, and I don't know how to stop it. There was man in our house and he--" A sob cut off her sentence. He pulled one hand away from her cup and covered her face. "Sorry," she mumbled through her tears.

"Hey, it's fine. It's been a hard night. Here." Hank set his mug aside, and gently took hers out of her hands. He set next to his own and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He could smell the nuanced differences in her perfume to her shampoo as she rested her head on his chest.

He swallowed and pulled her closer, even though he knew he shouldn't. It wasn't right, feeling this way about his partner's girlfriend, especially right now. Nick was in the _hospital_ for Christ's sake, and Juliette was vulnerable. Everything inside of him was screaming to leave right then, no matter how rude it might seem.

But, _fuck_ , he could have died. With Juliette so close, crying into his shirt, Hank became painfully aware how close he came to death tonight, if it hadn't been for a mysterious gunman.

"Shhh," he murmured, stroking her hair.

Juliette lifted her chin, her face red and splotchy from crying. "I'm sorry," she said again. "I try to do my crying in private."

"It's okay, really," Hank replied. He wiped the tears away from her face with his thumb and smiled. "I'm glad I can be here for you."

She smiled and Hank wasn't sure which one of them leaned in for the kiss. It was probably him, but he didn't care when their lips met and she was kissing him back. The spark running through his body was white hot with sudden lust.

Until she pulled away just as quickly.

"Oh god," she muttered, her hand over her mouth. "Hank, that was -- it was -- but I love Nick. I can't do that to him, not when he's lying in a hospital bed."

Nick. Right. Hank loved Nick, too. He couldn't do that to his partner. "Me either," he said. I should go."

"That'd probably be best," Juliette replied, sounding somewhat apologetic. She stood up, smoothing out the wrinkles in her shirt with her hands.

Hank got to his feet and pulled on his jacket. "Could you... not tell Nick about this?"

She smiled and touched his arm. "I'd rather he didn't know either. It's our little secret."

He smiled. "Thank you. Good night."

"Good night," Juliette replied.

Hank walked outside and got into his car. The street looked empty with the officers gone, so he zipped up his coat and hunkered down for the night. He didn't think anything was actually going to happen, but alone here, keeping an eye on things, it was better than being alone at home.

Their little secret, he thought with a rueful chuckle. It had been his secret for years. It wouldn't be anything new.


End file.
